Paraguay 's President on Saturday named a new interior minister and national police chief following clashes between police and peasants that left at least 17 dead .

Former Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola and former police chief Paulino Rojas offered resignation letters after the incident , and President Fernando Lugo accepted them Friday .

Peasants in eastern Paraguay opened fire Friday on police trying to evict them from private property , initiating the deadly confrontation , local authorities and state-run media said .

The president named Ruben Candida Amarilla as the new interior minister , and Arnaldo Sanabria Moran as interim police commander .

The violence occurred in Curuguaty , a remote community about 240 kilometers -LRB- 150 miles -RRB- northeast of the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion near the Brazilian border .

About 300 law enforcement officers arrived Friday morning to serve the order when some of the approximately 100 farmers who had been occupying the land illegally for more than a month began shooting at them , authorities said .

Curuguaty Hospital director Gustavo Gonzalez told the state-run Paraguay Agency of Public Information that seven policemen and more than 10 farmers were killed .

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About 80 more police and civilians were wounded and were receiving medical treatment , Gonzalez added . Three of the police officers were flown to Asuncion for treatment , the official news agency said .

Authorities did not detail the number of civilians killed , but they did confirm the deaths of seven police , including the chief and deputy chief of the national police 's special operations unit .

Police said the peasants had been camping on land owned by Blas Riquelme , a businessman and politician active in the South American nation 's Colorado Party .

But Jose Rodriguez , the leader of the `` tent people '' -- so named because they live in tents , told Radio Nacional that the peasants were on public lands that Riquelme had acquired illegally .

Rodriguez lamented the loss of life , but said the peasant leaders did not order the attack on police . He added that the institutions of government do n't work and there is a need for agrarian reform .

After the incident , Lugo sent soldiers to the zone . `` All the resources of government security and strategic air are working at this moment to restore calm and tranquility to this region of the country , '' he said . `` I have ordered the armed forces to develop their specific mission in support of the police operation . ''

In a special session , the House of Representatives observed a minute of silence in honor of the dead , the Agency of Public Information reported .

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President replaces interior minister , police chief

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Authorities try to evict peasants camping in east Paraguay

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Peasants open fire , leading to 10 civilian and 7 police deaths , a hospital official says

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The chief of the national police 's special operations unit is among those killed , police say